First Review of 2011: Rango

By Sean Knight

For me the start of the 2011 Film Season usually kicks off around March.  March is the earliest time that anything even remotely resembling a good movie will come out (with a few exceptions here and there - most recently Shutter Island last year) and Oscar Season is usually over by at least the end of the month.  The first film I chose to see this year was Gore Verbinski's Rango.  I must confess that the early trailers for the film did very little for me though I did recognize that at the very least it would be an interesting looking film.  I went into the theater a little hesitant because the thought that wouldn't escape my mind was - how many talking animal animated films do we really need?  And worse yet, how many of them are actually any good?  Rango itself starts out a little hesitant.  The jokes land flat, Johnny Depp seems completely out of place in his lizard body, and the pace seems very off.  After these first ten minutes though I began to realize that this was all part of the point of our hero's journey.  Rango quickly becomes an artistic triumph and loving ode to the western genre and the art of filmmaking itself.  Full Review after the jump.


Rango uses the conventions of the western genre to tell it's familiar, yet hilarious story.  It also borrows elements of it's plot from other classic films, most notably Roman Polanski's Chinatown.  These are not rip offs, but loving homages that any film lover will quickly recognize .  The characters are drawn from classic western archetypes - the stranger with no name coming in to save the town, the greedy politician, the evil outlaw gunslinger harassing the town, the no nonsense female survivor who falls in love with the stranger, the hillbillies and simpletons etc.  But each voice actor puts their own unique spin on the characters to make them all very distinctive.  Johnny Depp voices the lead character who becomes the folk hero Rango and it is one of his best roles in years.  Depp is appropriately awkward, but rises to the occasion throughout by using his classic goofy charm to woo the towns folk around him and the audience itself.  It's been years since Depp has been this care free and creative.  It's a reminder of what a great actor he is that he can make us care about and laugh with such a silly little lizard.  Other voice actors are used to great effect including Ned Beatty as the Mayor, Bill Nighy as outlaw Rattlesnake Jake,  Ray Winstone as Bad Bill, a surprising Abigail Breslin as bloodthirsty Priscilla, and, best of all, Timothy Olyphant playing The Spirit of the West channeling the most classic man with no name in film history.

The Movie was filmed live than converted to animation.

Rango's most striking feature, besides it's off the wall humor, which we shall get to in a minute, is it's look.  To put it simply, the animation is gorgeous and completely unique.  The film doesn't care about making it's animals cute and cuddly.  In fact, many of them are quite ugly and grotesque.  Even Rango himself has an odd off kilter look about him that makes him all the more endearing.  The design of the animals is only heightened by the texture work done on the picture which gives it depth not seen in most animated films.  The film moves with a fluidity that is at time awe inspiring.  Not even a Pixar film has ever really looked this good.  And the best part is - it's all done without the aid (or hindrance as many see it) of 3D.  Shocking isn't it, that a studio would be willing to release a CG animated film without 3D?  And again this plays into Rango's loving tribute to all the westerns that have come before it.  Somehow 3D would have seemed extremely inappropriate.  The film is a reminder that 2D can still be as striking and effective as any 3D film if not more so.  The scene in the film that convinced me that I was watching a benchmark in animated filmmaking was the loving homage to the Helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now, set to Flight of the Valkyries in a canyon involving a chase with bats and a wagon carrying precious cargo.  The imagination used here while also playing off of a familiar filmic situation and the sheer artistry of the action on screen left me glued to the back of my chair.  It was such a classic film moment that I had a grin from ear to ear.  It may be the single greatest action scene ever put in an animated film (high praise I know).

Gorgeous

The part of Rango that is going to have a lot of people talking is it's off the wall humor.  Many critics have already pointed out that the film may not be entirely appropriate for children.  In my case it reminded me of the films I used to see in the late 80's and early 90's when I was growing up and which are now a thing of the past.  Sex jokes are made as well as dark humor about violence and death.  In one instance there is an image of three owls (who provide commentary throughout the tale) lynched from a beam singing about the impending death of some prisoners.  I found this to be hilarious, but I will admit I was slightly taken aback.  I'm just not used to seeing a family movie pushing things this far.  Even passing comments such as "How can he be your brother? You're a lizard and he's a snake." "My Mother had an active social life." had me howling with laughter while also feeling like I was watching something a little naughty.  The truth is that Hollywood has become so scared of offending anyone that they have been content to release many a lame animated film that children might like for it's pretty colors, but parents will loath for its inane story and characters. Finally with Rango we have a film that grabs it's viewers by the balls and says let's take this crazy ride together.  It doesn't placate to children.  In fact many of the situations in the film involve real life and death stakes.  This is the kind of film that Children should see.  Yes, it's humor may be slightly off color, but so is casual playground talk.  The truth is Children already talk like this, we just refuse to acknowledge it.  Rango is about being the best you can be and about life's higher purpose.  It's about standing up for what is right in life.  Isn't that something we should celebrate?

A Classic Villain - Rattlesnake Jake

It would not surprise me at all if Rango ended up ranking high on my end of the year list and even managed to snag a few Knight Award nominations.  I hope it finds an audience that isn't afraid of it's unique look and quirky humor and characters.  I hope parents can look past it's violence and occasional use of damn, hell, and shit.  I hope it makes millions of dollars and encourages more studios to take risks with animated features.  It would be nice to see someone other than Pixar up at the podium come Oscar time.  It's high time for the animated market to expand and Rango is certainly a great start.  Let's hope there is more to come.

Four Stars ****

Rango
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Screenplay by John Logan
Running Time 107 Minutes
Release Date March 4th, 2011